2001Millrunner

i just drain it through the bottom of the radiator and put in the red toyota stuff 1/2 water and fluid and refill right? how much fluid i need to buy? do i leave the engine on? I forgot everything, it's been so long

nigeltufnel3

i just drain it through the bottom of the radiator and put in the red toyota stuff 1/2 water and fluid and refill right?
Yeah, you can just drain it from the drain plug and refill it. I use a prestone backflush kit, that way you get all the old stuff out, not just whats in the radiatior. You can also use a colling system cleaner, but some people are opposed to that (I personally think it ok since you don't use it that often).
And make sure to refill with distilled water!!!
Also, my 22re has a drain plug on the block as well, but it's kinda hard to get to. I'm not sure about yours.


how much fluid i need to buy?
My 94 4-banger pickup takes 1 gal of coolant and 1 gal of water, i'll bet yours takes more, see you manual specs.
But be sure not to put in all the coolant and then expect to put in all the water, it won't fit. Just premix them or alternate putting them in.

do i leave the engine on?
Not while it's draining, you'll overheat. If you backflush or run a system cleaner you'll leave it on while thats going through, (but your cooling system will be full of water)

Finally, make sure to watch you resivoir over the next week or so, to monitor the level and add more as needed.

mt_goat

Here is a procedure I used on my wife’s BMW and it worked good:

1. First I drained the radiator and took off the overflow bottle, cleaned it out and reinstalled it.

2. Then I tighten the radiator drain plug and refilled the radiator and overflow bottle with 50:50 mix.

3. Then start the motor and turn the heat on full blast and let idle until the temperature gauge reads at normal. This should open the thermostat and let the coolant circulate through the block and heater hoses. Let run for a few minutes after the thermostat opens. Check the coolant level while waiting for it to warm up to make sure it has enough coolant.

4. Then drain the radiator and repeat step 2 and 3 until the coolant you drain out looks like the coolant you are putting in. I did this 5 or 6 times on my wife’s BMW before the draining coolant looked good.
This will waste a lot of coolant but it is a lot cheaper than having a service place do it for you and it is very effective at flushing the block and heater hoses and you will not have any pockets of just water it will be 50:50 mix everywhere.

SLC Punk

1 gal of toy red and 1 gal of water.


I do the same procedures as mt-goat

2001Millrunner

thanks for the info guys.

one more Q, distilled water required? I have used tap water in the past
oh yea, where do i take the old fluid? I think dumping would be a bad idea for environment's sake.

ugadawg95

I used distilled water. No use putting anything that damage the radiator in there. My tapwater SUCKS!

2001Millrunner

I guess mineral deposits could cause an issue. Thanks

nigeltufnel3

Sounds good, just one question......why waste all that coolant? why not just keeping running water through??? seems like it could get a little pricey pretty quick.....

mt_goat

Because I didn't want to have an unknown % of coolant/water mix. If you flush with straight water then you have 100% water in the block and heater hoses when you are finished. How do you then get the whole mixture to 50/50 coolant/water mix? I guess if you know how much liquid the block and heater hoses hold you could figure how much straight coolant to add to get the total mix to 50/50. But I didn't know that. Or I guess there are some kind of testers out there to get it right too.

mt_goat

Yes, my manual says to use distilled water. I take all my used fluids to Walmart for disposal. Just go to the auto service center and ask where they would like them, they have to take them I think.

nigeltufnel3

that's a good point......i didn't really think of that....but i think coolant isn't much of an exact science.....the water absorbs the heat and the coolant doesn't freeze (roughly).....and the container says to use between a 7:3 (way too high) and 5:5 ratio. I just know how much my coolant system holds, and how much coolant I added, the rest of the total is water. It's not exact, but it's close. I guess you'll be laughing when I'm broken down , but I guess I'd rather save a couple bucks (until I'm done with college and get a job, anyways)

BLKNBLU

iTrader: (1)

I don't know how it is for you V6 folks, but my 22re has the cool thermostat with the rubber gasket. It is very simple to pull the thermo and have the whole shootin match as an open system. Then the water runs out as fast as you can run it in with your hose. I also like to backflush it from the bottom up. I just stick the hose in the bottom opening and seal off the excess space with a rag, then wait for the water to run out the top, pull the hose and rag and let 'er drain out again. Then I fill it up with the distilled/coolant mix. That still doesn't address the coolant in the heater core but I usually don't sweat it. Sometimes if I've got the time I'll fill it up with water and run it through the heater core then drain it all again.

2001Millrunner

got this done yesterday. 1gal of distilled water and 1gal of red(toyota)Anitfreeze. Mine holds exactly 2gal. quick, 30min job.